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How to Crash Putin’s Brexit Party

Never since the Cold War has American leadership been more vital to NATO and democratic Europe.

By

Robert D. Kaplan

June 30, 2016 7:04 p.m. ET

For decades, NATO and the European Union have silently worked in unison. The former required a foundation of European unity, and the EU to a significant extent provided that, its elitist and statist bureaucracy notwithstanding. Now the architecture is being toppled, as the vote for Brexit may trigger a cascade of desertions.

Meanwhile, NATO still must defend Central and Eastern Europe against Russian subversion and outright aggression. Russia’s President Vladimir Putin, who yearns for European disintegration, must see Brexit...